Catholic Nuns See Hope Amid Scandal

Crisis Could Bring Changes, Many Say

On the final day of classes, when she was due to finish report cards and prepare for an end-of-the-year party, Sister Mary Ellen O'Keefe paused to discuss Issue No. 1 in the Catholic Church.

``My reaction is one of deep sadness, and when you're sad, there's always an element of anger,'' said O'Keefe, referring to the church's sex abuse scandal. ``But you can't sit in the mud and suck your thumb. You have to say, `Where's the hope here?'''

O'Keefe, director of a school for teen mothers, sat in her basement office in St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Hartford. Pictures of her students' children hung on the wall and a small school bell sat on her desk.

``I look around and I see that the laity are becoming more responsible,'' said O'Keefe, a bespectacled woman, with short, gray hair. ``That's a good thing.''

As the sex abuse scandal continues to grow, Catholic nuns are watching from the sidelines, their voices rarely heard amid the din of allegations against bishops and priests. In some ways, it is a familiar position for nuns, a group that helped to build the American church but has been largely excluded from its leadership. That leadership gathers in Dallas this week at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to consider a a committee's recommendations on how to deal with priests who abuse minors.

In recent interviews, nuns in Connecticut and elsewhere spoke about the scandal and the issues it has brought to the fore, including celibacy and homosexuality. They voiced sympathy for priests, but also spoke with hope about the changes that the crisis could bring, including an increased role for women and the laity in church life.

``I think this is a moment of excruciating purification,'' said Sister Katarina Schuth, a professor at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minn. ``I think it's a watershed moment. The business of the church will never be the same.''

There are about 76,000 nuns in the U.S. Catholic Church, down from 180,000 in 1965. They don't all speak with one voice; there are dozens of religious orders, each with its own mission. The Sisters of Mercy, for instance, minister to the poor, sick and uneducated.

O'Keefe is one of about 140 nuns who belong to the Connecticut province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, an international order founded during the French Revolution. The order traditionally has been dedicated to education, but has branched out in recent years, and now runs a nursing home in Worcester, Mass., and a job-training center for women in Waterbury.

The three leaders of the Connecticut province discussed the church scandal last month from their headquarters, a faux Victorian house in Windsor.

``I'm embarrassed and angered by how the hierarchy has handled it,'' said Sister Mary Beth Johnston, a psychologist. ``This crisis just highlights a problem that has been around for a long time: [the way] the hierarchy does business in a non-inclusive manner.''

Despite their anger, Johnston and her colleagues expressed hope that the crisis could force much-needed change.

``It's a hopeful time for the laity,'' said Sister Anne-Louise Nadeau, a counselor and member of the leadership team. ``As much as I am embarrassed, as much as I am saddened and angered, this is a life-giving moment for the Catholic laity. Yes, we do have a role in the church -- to question, to demand justice.''

Many of the nuns interviewed spoke in similar tones. They did not argue for an increased role for nuns specifically, but for women and laity in general.

Still, nuns have long occupied a unique position in the American church. They have helped staff the hundreds of schools and hospitals run by the church, but have played no major part in its leadership. They are in the church, yet outside of its leadership hierarchy.

``Structurally, we're powerless, yet we have a lot of influence among the people,'' said Sister Miriam Therese Winter, a theologian at Hartford Seminary who has studied the belief and practice of American nuns.

In one study, titled ``Defecting in Place,'' Winter found that American nuns were the most radical feminists in the church. Most were loyal to the church, yet hoped to ``transform it from within.''

That position historically has given nuns a singular perspective on the life of the church, Winter said. And it's no different today as the U.S. church grapples with the greatest crisis in its history.

``I think as women we would deal with these issues in a more holistic way,'' Winter said. ``We see the broader picture. Women don't focus on one isolated incident; we're very contextual. ... We are good and experienced at connecting the dots.'' If women were in charge, Winter said, they would be primarily concerned with the victims, not the church's reputation. Then they would try to bring the victim and the priest together to attempt a reconciliation.